Latest / Pit Talk / Indonesian GP Preview: Will Rain Sharman Strike Again? MotoGP Pit Talk

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Indonesian GP Preview: Will Rain Sharman Strike Again? MotoGP Pit Talk · Pit Talk

0:00
Speaker 1: MotoGP heads to the Southern Hemisphere for the first round
0:04
Speaker 1: of the Six Flyaways, and what better places start than Mandalika,
0:08
Speaker 1: a tropical island paradise and that has been known to
0:11
Speaker 1: throw a few curve balls on and off track. I'm
0:15
Speaker 1: your host, Rnita vmullin and joining me is the man
0:18
Speaker 1: who's fresh from his secret side gig as the Rain
0:20
Speaker 1: Sharman's personal umbrella holder, none other that are all knowing
0:24
Speaker 1: always dry, mister Matt Clayton, Matt, I can't start this
0:29
Speaker 1: Indonesian Grand Prix podcast without reminding you of that crazy
0:33
Speaker 1: weather and that Sharman lady banging on the bowl a
0:36
Speaker 1: couple of years ago.
0:38
Speaker 2: So good. Let's see. I've been called a lot of
0:40
Speaker 2: things as a Motogpjurito over the years, Roneda, but that's
0:43
Speaker 2: probably the best one. That's the one to maybe laugh
0:44
Speaker 2: the most. But yeah, God, that first race there in
0:47
Speaker 2: twenty two, that was bonkers the weather there. But when
0:51
Speaker 2: you look at where the track situated, when the helicopter
0:53
Speaker 2: shop pulls up, you can see how the weather can
0:55
Speaker 2: roll in there because it makes Philip Island look secluded.
0:58
Speaker 2: It's just so completed out there in the middle of
1:02
Speaker 2: the ocean with so many variables, and when it rains
1:04
Speaker 2: in that part of the world, it doesn't just drizzle,
1:06
Speaker 2: does it. It absolutely throws it down.
1:09
Speaker 3: I love that.
1:09
Speaker 1: Since all the teams and the riders have arrived in Indonesia,
1:12
Speaker 1: you see their social media posts and they're all on
1:15
Speaker 1: the beach with the coconuts and chilling out, relaxing, and
1:19
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, yeah, well, in a few weeks time you'll
1:21
Speaker 1: come to Phillip Island and it's going to be freezing
1:23
Speaker 1: cold in Melbourne, so lap it up, guys while it's
1:26
Speaker 1: nice and warm.
1:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, enjoy the sun and send all the winter all
1:30
Speaker 2: the winter gear down to Philip Island because there's a
1:32
Speaker 2: fair chat you'll need that and some sunscreen and some
1:34
Speaker 2: sunglasses and every other piece of paraphernalia over the Phillip
1:37
Speaker 2: Island weekend. But yeah, nice place to have a motor
1:40
Speaker 2: GP race, isn't it.
1:40
Speaker 1: Mandalika definitely definitely on the bucket list as well, because
1:44
Speaker 1: it looks like such a beautiful holiday destination. But the
1:47
Speaker 1: circuit I find really interesting in the fact that it
1:50
Speaker 1: was purpose built literally for motor GP.
1:53
Speaker 3: The worlds who bays go down. I think the Asian
1:55
Speaker 3: road Racing Championship goes there. But apart from.
1:58
Speaker 1: Those three, it is hardly ever used. And we know
2:01
Speaker 1: from previous years that they say if you go offline,
2:05
Speaker 1: it's super dusty.
2:06
Speaker 3: We see a lot of crashes.
2:08
Speaker 1: Do you think once again this year we're going to
2:10
Speaker 1: see something similar like we have before.
2:13
Speaker 2: Friday practice in Indonesia is always a bit of a
2:16
Speaker 2: more dirt tracking that it is road racing at that
2:18
Speaker 2: point because the track is so dirty. But it's a
2:20
Speaker 2: cool track, like it's a really nice layout. It's a
2:23
Speaker 2: layout that lends itself to good action and really seeing
2:27
Speaker 2: these motor GP bikes unleashed. But yeah, super one line
2:31
Speaker 2: because of how dirty it is and how infrequently it's used,
2:33
Speaker 2: but it tends to throw up interesting racism. And we've
2:36
Speaker 2: only been there twice. We had the first race in
2:38
Speaker 2: twenty two that was super wet, which Miguel Olivera won,
2:41
Speaker 2: and then last year was just it was the week
2:44
Speaker 2: before Philip Island, so it's a bit later in the calendar.
2:46
Speaker 2: But last year's Indonesia GP was pretty awesome viewing on
2:50
Speaker 2: the Saturday and the Sunday, And we touched on this
2:52
Speaker 2: the other day. How good is it that the rest
2:55
Speaker 2: of the world now has to wake up and watch
2:56
Speaker 2: Motor GP and we get to watch it the afternoon
2:58
Speaker 2: for the next five weeknds. It's fantastic news.
3:01
Speaker 1: Well, I was doing the schedules for the Fox Sports
3:04
Speaker 1: Socials and I saw Saturday's race, So Saturday Sprint Sunday's
3:08
Speaker 1: race both on at five pm in Australian local time.
3:11
Speaker 3: That's brilliant. I am so looking.
3:13
Speaker 1: Forward to that because what better way do you want
3:15
Speaker 1: to spend your Saturday and Sunday afternoons than kicking back
3:18
Speaker 1: on the sofar watching roto GP.
3:19
Speaker 2: Right, yeah, one hundred percent. And also this use of
3:22
Speaker 2: the word flyaways, which I'm guilty of it as well.
3:24
Speaker 2: I use it all the time as well. Don't we
3:26
Speaker 2: have to fly to just about every single race? Like
3:28
Speaker 2: why do we persist with this whole flyaways thing? Is
3:30
Speaker 2: Europe's doing it wrong. We're doing it right. We've got
3:32
Speaker 2: it on our time zone for the next five weekends,
3:34
Speaker 2: which is super fun.
3:37
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about last year's Grand Prix because it
3:40
Speaker 1: was really really interesting. We had the title chase battle
3:44
Speaker 1: heating up like we currently do, but it was mostly
3:47
Speaker 1: Peco and Jorge Martine.
3:49
Speaker 3: Last year.
3:50
Speaker 1: I'm going to start by last year's Grand Prix winner,
3:52
Speaker 1: Pekko Vanyaya. He started and qualified thirteenth on the grid
3:56
Speaker 1: Sunday's Grand Prix, and he crossed the line in first.
4:00
Speaker 1: I don't think someone had done that for a very
4:03
Speaker 1: very long time. I'm talking like I think it was
4:05
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven. Was the last time someone qualified
4:08
Speaker 1: that far low and won the Grand Prix?
4:09
Speaker 2: Right, yeah, two thousand and six, Turkey. I thought you'd
4:14
Speaker 2: bring this up, Marco Milandry, And that was noticeable because
4:16
Speaker 2: he beat this young Australian bloke called Casey Stoner that day.
4:19
Speaker 2: That's the day that everyone's like, oh boy, god, Casey
4:21
Speaker 2: stone is going to be good. But yeah, seventeen years
4:24
Speaker 2: that someone had come from that far back on the
4:26
Speaker 2: grid to win a dry weather Grand Prix, And it
4:29
Speaker 2: was one that we just really didn't see coming because
4:32
Speaker 2: Banyaya had got knocked out in Q one on the Saturday,
4:35
Speaker 2: Martin had gone off and won the sprint and was
4:38
Speaker 2: leading the Grand Prix pretty comfortably as well, had a
4:40
Speaker 2: three or so second lead on the Sunday and then
4:43
Speaker 2: did what juge Martin tended to do a bit too
4:45
Speaker 2: much last year and that he threw it down the
4:48
Speaker 2: road turn eleven about halfway through that race, So that
4:51
Speaker 2: was pain in one sense. But then Banyay coming through
4:54
Speaker 2: from thirteenth to actually win the Grand Prix, pretty amazing
4:58
Speaker 2: chain of events, and I reckon. And there was a
5:00
Speaker 2: real knock on effect from this race last year because
5:03
Speaker 2: the weekend following Indonesia was Philip Island. We know how
5:07
Speaker 2: fast Juage Martine is at Philip Island, and then of
5:09
Speaker 2: course we remember what he did in the race at
5:11
Speaker 2: Philip Pilot on the Saturday, not the Sunday. He was
5:14
Speaker 2: the one that took the tire gamble and it came
5:16
Speaker 2: and bit him on the last lap. He led it
5:18
Speaker 2: coming onto the start, finished straight of the last lap,
5:20
Speaker 2: finished fifth, and I got the feeling that the championship
5:23
Speaker 2: really started to unravel for him a weekend previously after
5:26
Speaker 2: he crashed out in Indonesia, and then every decision he
5:29
Speaker 2: made after that probably stemmed from that. So it was
5:32
Speaker 2: a critical race last year, super entertaining because of how
5:36
Speaker 2: unpredictable that Sunday was. But yeah, it's very hard to
5:39
Speaker 2: win from anywhere other than the first two rows in
5:41
Speaker 2: Motor GP these days, so for bad you I had
5:43
Speaker 2: to win from thirteenth. That was probably the most crucial
5:46
Speaker 2: race he won the whole of last year.
5:48
Speaker 1: I want to touch on tires real quick because you
5:50
Speaker 1: just mentioned it there. We know last year they had
5:53
Speaker 1: a lot of troubles with the tires because of their
5:55
Speaker 1: actual circuit temperatures. I think it was recorded that last
5:59
Speaker 1: year Mandalika was the highest circuit or track temperature that
6:02
Speaker 1: they've ever had in Moto gips. I can't remember which rider,
6:05
Speaker 1: but the tire was actually like blistering right. So I'm
6:09
Speaker 1: thinking this year because we got the new Michelin's, but
6:12
Speaker 1: how much the Ducaties really drive through with that rear grip.
6:15
Speaker 1: Do you think we're going to have some tie issues
6:17
Speaker 1: again this weekend?
6:19
Speaker 2: I would say the sprint less so because you know,
6:22
Speaker 2: obviously if your lapse, you get to go for it
6:23
Speaker 2: a bit more in that. But I think Sunday's race,
6:25
Speaker 2: if the weather's dry, which is if in air quotes,
6:28
Speaker 2: because we never know what's happening in that part of
6:30
Speaker 2: the world, could be one of those super cagey races
6:33
Speaker 2: where everyone's realizes they don't have twenty seven laps of
6:37
Speaker 2: tire life around this track, so you're going to have
6:40
Speaker 2: to really manage the pace in the early going. So
6:43
Speaker 2: that could be quite interesting because since on Sunday we
6:46
Speaker 2: might have a bit of a pack, I don't think
6:47
Speaker 2: anyone's going to break away and kill their ties in
6:50
Speaker 2: the first ten labs, So it could be one of
6:52
Speaker 2: those sort of slow to the boiled, cagey races that
6:55
Speaker 2: really sort of builds to a conclusion just tactically. I'll
6:59
Speaker 2: be really interested interested to see how that plays out,
7:02
Speaker 2: because we know how abrasive that Tarmak is. It's a
7:05
Speaker 2: place that has pretty extreme weather, either very very wet
7:08
Speaker 2: or very very hot, so I think that'll really dictate
7:11
Speaker 2: how this race has run and won. And someone like Bastjunini,
7:15
Speaker 2: and we've talked about this before, like the absolute master
7:17
Speaker 2: of tire preservation late race pace. If he's there and
7:21
Speaker 2: thereabouts in those final five laps, you know he's probably
7:24
Speaker 2: going to have more tie than anybody else, So he
7:26
Speaker 2: could definitely be one to watch if he can hang
7:29
Speaker 2: with that pack at the front.
7:30
Speaker 1: And that pack at the front it's going to be
7:32
Speaker 1: Pecker and Jorge Martin. Obviously we know that they're both
7:36
Speaker 1: going to get a good start, but what about Marquez
7:38
Speaker 1: coming into this weekend first time here on a ji caaddi.
7:42
Speaker 1: Last time he was here he had that massive high
7:44
Speaker 1: sight on the Repso Hondo as well, which was just nasty.
7:47
Speaker 1: But how do you think he's going to go, because
7:50
Speaker 1: he's been talking a lot lately about how we're going
7:52
Speaker 1: to really start to notice the differences between the twenty
7:56
Speaker 1: three and the twenty four GT. Yeah, he's going to
7:59
Speaker 1: be up there with the top.
8:01
Speaker 2: I think he's definitely on his back foot. I mean,
8:04
Speaker 2: you have to remember he's riding a GP twenty three.
8:06
Speaker 2: That was the bike that began last season with as well,
8:08
Speaker 2: so you know, it just gets older and older as
8:10
Speaker 2: we go along into this championship. But in a normal
8:13
Speaker 2: dry weather race, I would he's going to be probably
8:17
Speaker 2: the best of that next group. But I think it's
8:18
Speaker 2: going to be hard for him to hang onto those
8:20
Speaker 2: twenty fours. But it's a weird one for him because
8:23
Speaker 2: normally you can always look back at historical precedent with
8:25
Speaker 2: Mark and say, well, he said success here and he's
8:27
Speaker 2: done this in the past. This is only one of
8:29
Speaker 2: three tracks on the calendar. He's not one at and
8:31
Speaker 2: of course he's only raced here twice, so limited sample
8:35
Speaker 2: size for him. He's got a bike deficiency, I'm sure,
8:38
Speaker 2: but I think we said this last week after what
8:41
Speaker 2: had happened at Massano and then Aragon. If it's any
8:44
Speaker 2: way sketchy or slightly half wet half dry, you know
8:48
Speaker 2: he's going to be there. So I think he needs
8:49
Speaker 2: external factors to keep him up the front. In a
8:52
Speaker 2: normal dry weather race. I think it's pretty hard to
8:54
Speaker 2: see him right up there, but he's the great opportunist.
8:57
Speaker 2: You only need to give him an inch and he's
8:59
Speaker 2: going to take a mile, So we'll put an asterisk
9:01
Speaker 2: on that. But in a straight fight, I think it'd
9:03
Speaker 2: be a little bit beyond them. This weekend. I think it's.
9:06
Speaker 1: Hard to not talk about their you caddies, but I
9:08
Speaker 1: kind of think we've put them to bed for now
9:10
Speaker 1: with Mandalika. I want to just touch on a prillier
9:13
Speaker 1: because this style of track I feel like from history
9:18
Speaker 1: it does suit Maverick Vannelle's and Elisha Spargo quite well.
9:22
Speaker 1: But the thing that I feel like is going to
9:23
Speaker 1: let them down is purely the heat and how much
9:26
Speaker 1: those aprillias do struggle or how much the riders struggle
9:29
Speaker 1: with the heat from the bike and the outside air temperature.
9:32
Speaker 1: What's your thoughts about those guys heading into this weekend.
9:35
Speaker 2: It should on paper be a good track for them.
9:38
Speaker 2: You look at the track layer, it suits the way
9:39
Speaker 2: that the RSGP tends to handle. But that heat thing
9:42
Speaker 2: that you mentioned has been a factor. We saw it
9:45
Speaker 2: becoming an issue last year where we went to some
9:48
Speaker 2: of the tracks with the hotter ambient temperatures like India,
9:50
Speaker 2: and you know, they were good here last year. Maverick
9:53
Speaker 2: was particularly good here. But that might be the factor
9:56
Speaker 2: that holds them back. But I think this is a
9:58
Speaker 2: different conversation I reckon at the stat of the season
10:00
Speaker 2: compared to now, because their last two or three weekends
10:03
Speaker 2: they've been pretty poor pretty much since Aragon, both Massanos,
10:06
Speaker 2: they weren't great. So theoretically this should be a good
10:09
Speaker 2: track for them to emerge out of that best of
10:12
Speaker 2: the rest category, But they got no momentum at the moment,
10:15
Speaker 2: They've got no form, and I reckon just as an aside.
10:18
Speaker 2: I think something that's going to start raising its head
10:20
Speaker 2: the longer this season goes. There's so many guys on
10:23
Speaker 2: the move right at the end of this season going
10:25
Speaker 2: to new manufacturers and changing teams, and also Elisia's retiring
10:29
Speaker 2: in five races in six races time rather, so I
10:32
Speaker 2: reckon those sorts of things are going to start to
10:34
Speaker 2: play a factor, not only in the championship fight with
10:36
Speaker 2: Martin and Bangnoa and potentially Bastianini, but you've got a
10:40
Speaker 2: lot of moving parts in some of these teams further
10:42
Speaker 2: down the grid, and it's only natural if you're leaving manufacturer,
10:46
Speaker 2: particularly if you're not leading on great terms, like if
10:48
Speaker 2: you've been sacked like Jack Miller effectively, it could be
10:52
Speaker 2: a bit of a factor later in the season. And
10:53
Speaker 2: of course that factory a Prillier lineup, all new lineup
10:56
Speaker 2: going in there next year. Only one of the four
10:58
Speaker 2: are Prillier riders is actually returned for twenty five, So
11:01
Speaker 2: that could be something to watch going forward, couldn't it.
11:04
Speaker 3: Oh? One hundred percent.
11:05
Speaker 1: I read an article that they talking to Kevin Schwantz,
11:09
Speaker 1: the ninety three world champion who was at the last
11:12
Speaker 1: round of Mazana, and he was saying that he thinks
11:15
Speaker 1: Jujai Martin could fight for the title on the Aprillia.
11:19
Speaker 1: He goes in his opinion, and I'm totally paraphrasing this, guys,
11:23
Speaker 1: but he thinks that Aleish and Maverick just aren't the
11:27
Speaker 1: complete package, which we know and we know that they
11:29
Speaker 1: both have their weaknesses, I guess we could say, but
11:31
Speaker 1: he thinks the work that Aleish's done coming into this
11:35
Speaker 1: far for who hate to then jump on, he goes
11:37
Speaker 1: it wouldn't be long for him to be fighting for
11:39
Speaker 1: a championship. And I thought that's so interesting when literally
11:43
Speaker 1: the results, like you just said that, we've had the
11:45
Speaker 1: last few races from Alisha and Maverick, they just haven't
11:48
Speaker 1: been there, and it does kind of feel like maybe
11:50
Speaker 1: they're dropping the ball a little bit, or just their
11:54
Speaker 1: headspace isn't with Aprillia anymore.
11:56
Speaker 3: It is for the next year.
11:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, And also I think this you look at Brillier
12:00
Speaker 2: in KTM, right, I get the sense that we kind
12:02
Speaker 2: of know where the limit of the KTM is because
12:04
Speaker 2: Pedro Acosta tends to find the limit and sometimes goes
12:07
Speaker 2: over it because he keeps falling off. But I don't
12:09
Speaker 2: think you can ever look at KTM and what they're
12:11
Speaker 2: doing binder to an extent as well, where you're like, so,
12:13
Speaker 2: what's the actual potential of this bike? I think we
12:16
Speaker 2: know where KTM is with a Prillier. I'm never convinced
12:19
Speaker 2: that we actually know where the ceiling of it is
12:21
Speaker 2: because Elaysha has done an incredible amount over a long
12:24
Speaker 2: period of time at that manufacturer. But you do wonder
12:27
Speaker 2: if I wouldn't say he's checked out because he's very,
12:29
Speaker 2: very competitive. But when you know you're about to retire,
12:32
Speaker 2: that's got to be in the back of your mind.
12:33
Speaker 2: And then Maverick, as we've discussed before, it's crazy to
12:37
Speaker 2: think that he's probably going to be the answer to
12:39
Speaker 2: the trivia question in a few years time. It's like, so,
12:41
Speaker 2: why didn't do Katie win every race in twenty twenty
12:43
Speaker 2: four because Maverick Vignalez won one on an a Prillier.
12:47
Speaker 2: We know how good he is when he's completely on it,
12:49
Speaker 2: but on a weekend to weekend basis, he fluctuates more
12:52
Speaker 2: than any rider on a race winning bike. So I
12:54
Speaker 2: just wonder what the absolute ceiling of the Aprillia is.
12:57
Speaker 2: The one thing we know with Jorge Martine is he
13:00
Speaker 2: will find that ceiling. So I do wonder next year
13:03
Speaker 2: whether we'll look at the Brillier and go, oh wow,
13:05
Speaker 2: this was actually a better bike than we thought if
13:07
Speaker 2: he's competing for podiums straight away, or whether we'll look
13:11
Speaker 2: at it and go, oh, maybe Maverick and Elisha had
13:14
Speaker 2: this bike kind of where it was because Martine's hitting
13:17
Speaker 2: his head against a ceiling and can't really compete with
13:19
Speaker 2: it ACADDI. So that's probably the most fascinating thing about that.
13:22
Speaker 2: Early part of next year for me is so how
13:24
Speaker 2: good is the Aprillia bike really? Because I'm not sure
13:27
Speaker 2: we one hundred percent know.
13:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head
13:31
Speaker 1: there with that, and it is going to be interesting.
13:32
Speaker 1: Next year is going to be interesting because you touched
13:34
Speaker 1: on Jack Miller there moving to Yamaha, So obviously we
13:38
Speaker 1: want to talk about that because last weekend not the
13:40
Speaker 1: best results for Jack so far. But I feel like
13:43
Speaker 1: with the news that he is going to Prahmaha next year,
13:47
Speaker 1: having that, I guess stress taken off him. Are we
13:50
Speaker 1: going to see Jack improve for the remainder of this year?
13:53
Speaker 2: Do you think everyone playing at home you can tick
13:55
Speaker 2: the PREBA har box on your big Go card because
13:57
Speaker 2: we managed to cover that one off for this week,
13:59
Speaker 2: but yeah, it was it sures you how bad things
14:01
Speaker 2: were for KTM last week at Masano, Jack finished sixteenth.
14:04
Speaker 2: He got pushed out of the points on the last
14:06
Speaker 2: lap by Johan Zako. There's some interesting picks of Zako's
14:10
Speaker 2: line into that third last corner. I'm sure Jack was
14:12
Speaker 2: hugely impressed with that. But Jack was sixteenth and he
14:15
Speaker 2: was the best of the KTM. So it's a miserable
14:17
Speaker 2: weekend that was for KTM. But you can't help but
14:20
Speaker 2: think that, you know, Jack coming into this back half
14:23
Speaker 2: of the year with all the flyaways, he loves this
14:25
Speaker 2: time of year because he gets to come home. That's
14:27
Speaker 2: part of it. But I think just having that stress
14:30
Speaker 2: of will I won't ie, how long am I going
14:33
Speaker 2: to be here for? Where am I going to be riding?
14:35
Speaker 2: Having all that put to bed for at least the
14:38
Speaker 2: first well for at least the next six months, I
14:40
Speaker 2: suppose has got to help him in terms of his
14:43
Speaker 2: time finishing up with KTM. But then the flip side
14:45
Speaker 2: to that, of course, is that any developments they've got,
14:48
Speaker 2: he's not going to be privy to those or testing
14:50
Speaker 2: what's going on, so he's kind of seeing out his
14:52
Speaker 2: time there. But I don't know about you, how long
14:56
Speaker 2: into twenty twenty five year Rahim, it will be before
14:58
Speaker 2: the So what's Jack Miller doing next year's stories kickoff?
15:01
Speaker 2: Because the reason I mentioned it is that he's on
15:03
Speaker 2: a one year contract and Olivera's on a two year
15:06
Speaker 2: contract with Pramahar And I don't know about you, but
15:10
Speaker 2: when all the press stuff came out last week with
15:12
Speaker 2: Jack going to Yamaha, the difference between the fanfare and
15:16
Speaker 2: the carrying on that when Olivera signed compared to when
15:18
Speaker 2: Jack did. Jack's press release had no photo with management,
15:22
Speaker 2: everyone arm in arm or looking happy. It's a one
15:24
Speaker 2: year deal, no quotes from Jack, and the press release
15:27
Speaker 2: it was very sort of perfunctory, where Olivera was all
15:30
Speaker 2: the bells and whistles and he's a photo with Lyn
15:32
Speaker 2: Jarvis and so on and so forth. So I thought
15:34
Speaker 2: that was kind of interesting because you know what's going
15:36
Speaker 2: to happen. Of those two writers, Jack is the one
15:38
Speaker 2: that's out of contract first, So what will we get
15:41
Speaker 2: to round three? And people will start going, So I
15:43
Speaker 2: wonder what Jack Biller's doing in twenty twenty six, So
15:46
Speaker 2: that story is not going to He's still going to
15:48
Speaker 2: be answering questions about his future. It might even be
15:49
Speaker 2: earlier than this year with the way things go.
15:52
Speaker 3: Oh, that's not what you want, is it?
15:54
Speaker 2: But it is not.
15:55
Speaker 1: We're going to still have him on the grid next year,
15:57
Speaker 1: and that's what we want, is just to have another
15:59
Speaker 1: Australian the grid until our younger ussies Senner, Joel and
16:03
Speaker 1: Jacob can finally step up.
16:05
Speaker 3: But I just want to touch back on the.
16:07
Speaker 1: Current rumor circulating at KTM about the change in team manager.
16:12
Speaker 1: I don't if you've heard about this, Matt yet, So
16:15
Speaker 1: the rumor that Guidotti is going out and Danny Pedrosa
16:19
Speaker 1: is stepping in as team manager. What's your take on this,
16:24
Speaker 1: Because I'm in two mindsets. I think Danny's too good
16:27
Speaker 1: of a test writer to let go. But I do
16:31
Speaker 1: see that he is always in the garage.
16:33
Speaker 3: She's always communicating with the writers.
16:35
Speaker 1: He has that relationship with everyone there that I do
16:38
Speaker 1: think he would make a really good team manager as well.
16:40
Speaker 3: So I'm on the fence with this one.
16:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of two separate stories for me in
16:45
Speaker 2: that there's been a bit of blood letting going on
16:46
Speaker 2: at KTM because she has not gone as they would expect.
16:49
Speaker 2: So the Guidotti thing seems pretty real. He did the
16:52
Speaker 2: classic non denial denial when he was asked by Simon
16:55
Speaker 2: Krafar on the coverage at Missano. So I don't think
16:58
Speaker 2: it'd be a great surprise if he's out. But the
17:00
Speaker 2: thing with Padrosa is that I think he's still too young,
17:05
Speaker 2: too useful on a bike, and also just even in
17:08
Speaker 2: a personal side. I read the other day that he's
17:10
Speaker 2: just become a dad and there's all sorts of things
17:12
Speaker 2: going on in his life. I reckon he'd be a
17:14
Speaker 2: good team manager, but maybe not yet. It seems a
17:16
Speaker 2: little bit premature for me. It's almost like they need someone.
17:19
Speaker 2: If they've got aspirations to put him in that role
17:21
Speaker 2: in the future, that's great, but maybe not yet. They
17:24
Speaker 2: almost need like a stop gap. So I'd be pretty
17:27
Speaker 2: surprised if he became the new team manager. I mean, look,
17:30
Speaker 2: if Major GPS taught us anything this year, you should
17:33
Speaker 2: be surprised when you're surprised, because edything's possible at this point.
17:36
Speaker 2: But I would be surprised if the good oddie stuff
17:40
Speaker 2: wasn't real that he's out. But I don't know if
17:43
Speaker 2: I see Danny Pedrosa being a team manager yet. He
17:45
Speaker 2: still looks like he could ride a race. I mean,
17:47
Speaker 2: we saw what he did as a wild card last year,
17:49
Speaker 2: so I don't reckon he's quite ready to hang the
17:51
Speaker 2: Helbert up yet. Surely.
17:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, No, that's kind of what I thought, and that's
17:55
Speaker 1: why I said I'm totally on the fence, because I
17:58
Speaker 1: think he brings excitement. He he also connects that older
18:02
Speaker 1: I don't want to say generation, but the older fans
18:04
Speaker 1: of Moto GP who used to watching back in the
18:06
Speaker 1: Repsol hundred days because obviously he's been around for forever
18:09
Speaker 1: and competing with Valentino. To see him come back, it's
18:12
Speaker 1: like the older than you connect together.
18:14
Speaker 3: I really like that.
18:15
Speaker 2: Well, and I think there's so much respect still too
18:17
Speaker 2: for the other riders on the grid, because you remember
18:20
Speaker 2: what he did last year when he came back, and
18:22
Speaker 2: it was at Messano. He's obviously really good there. He
18:24
Speaker 2: raced at Herreth as well, so tracks where we know
18:26
Speaker 2: he's good. But you know, I don't think he would
18:29
Speaker 2: sustain what he was doing in those races over a
18:31
Speaker 2: full season. But the guy is still quick and he's
18:33
Speaker 2: still so valuable as an asset behind the scenes on
18:37
Speaker 2: the bike that I think it would be I'm sure
18:40
Speaker 2: it'd be fine in a team manager role, but is
18:42
Speaker 2: that the best way to deploy him as an employee
18:45
Speaker 2: and as an asset at this point? Maybe not yet.
18:47
Speaker 2: So look, if you told me in two years that
18:50
Speaker 2: he was the team manager, I'd say I'm sure, but
18:51
Speaker 2: it just seems a bit premature for me.
18:53
Speaker 3: Yeah, I can I can see that.
18:56
Speaker 1: Well. Touching back on this weekend at Mandalika, we haven't
18:59
Speaker 1: done that before. I'm kind of throwing you on the
19:01
Speaker 1: spot here, Matt, but I want to know your prediction
19:04
Speaker 1: for this weekend. Who's going to take pole and who's
19:06
Speaker 1: going to take the Grand Prix win on Sunday.
19:09
Speaker 2: Pole's easy because I automatically just say Jorge Martin's going
19:13
Speaker 2: to win every pole position because I think he's the
19:15
Speaker 2: fastest guy over one lap in Motor GP. It has
19:17
Speaker 2: been for about three years, so I wouldn't surprise it
19:21
Speaker 2: wouldn't surprise me if he's on pole at all. Race wise,
19:25
Speaker 2: I am going to make a bowl prediction and say
19:27
Speaker 2: we're not going to have an order Caddy podium, because
19:29
Speaker 2: we've had plenty of those this year. I don't think
19:31
Speaker 2: that's going to happen. If anyone's going to get up there.
19:34
Speaker 2: It could be randomly good at Prily a weekend, or
19:37
Speaker 2: there will be a weekend where Pedro Acosta gets up
19:40
Speaker 2: the front and doesn't fall off. We know he's going
19:41
Speaker 2: to get up the front because he just man handles
19:43
Speaker 2: the bike, but I reckon this might be the Peco
19:47
Speaker 2: strikes back weekend because I think this race is more
19:51
Speaker 2: important to him than it is to Martine, which sounds
19:54
Speaker 2: silly because they're both going for a world championship. But
19:57
Speaker 2: Peko's almost at that point now where he can't afford
20:01
Speaker 2: any more sort of self inflicted wounds, if that makes sense,
20:03
Speaker 2: because he's coming from a position of deficit. So I
20:06
Speaker 2: think he's probably the guy I would put my heart
20:08
Speaker 2: earned on to win the race. But I don't think
20:11
Speaker 2: it's going to be an alder Caddy podium. We mentioned
20:13
Speaker 2: the GP twenty three things. It's a good layout for
20:15
Speaker 2: Aprilier and I don't think we've seen the last of
20:18
Speaker 2: a Costra on a podium this year because I think
20:20
Speaker 2: he's just too quick. It's just whether he gets to
20:22
Speaker 2: stay on or not. But of course if it rains,
20:24
Speaker 2: then all my predictions will go flush down the drain
20:27
Speaker 2: with all the rain water and in anything's possible, and
20:30
Speaker 2: I will up for a bit of chaos. I don't
20:32
Speaker 2: think we've had one of those completely mad races for
20:34
Speaker 2: a while, so yeah, let's have one of those.
20:36
Speaker 3: I do want a really good flag to flag.
20:38
Speaker 1: I want one that leg is actually like the legit
20:40
Speaker 1: flag to flag, not jo my team coming in.
20:43
Speaker 2: You mean one, we're actually one. We're actually rains. Is
20:45
Speaker 2: that what you'reing to. We haven't had one for a while.
20:48
Speaker 2: It's been so long since we had a proper wet GP.
20:50
Speaker 2: I reckon it would be it'd be like Japan last year.
20:54
Speaker 2: I'm just going back off the top of my head here.
20:55
Speaker 2: It's been literally a full calendar year since we've had
20:57
Speaker 2: a properly wet race.
20:58
Speaker 1: So we're certainly we'll certainly due for one hundred percent.
21:02
Speaker 1: So maybe is it Mandalika? Maybe is it in Japan
21:05
Speaker 1: next weekend?
21:05
Speaker 2: Who knows, don't feel don't say it's at Philiplo. I
21:08
Speaker 2: just want us to race. I just want us to
21:10
Speaker 2: race on Sunday at Philipylo this year. It's not too
21:12
Speaker 2: much to ask it.
21:13
Speaker 1: And hopefully it's dry as well while we're running around
21:15
Speaker 1: like mad hatters. But guys, of that is at your
21:19
Speaker 1: preview to this weekend's Mendalika Indonesian Grand Prix, but you
21:24
Speaker 1: can catch all the action alignment a break free on
21:27
Speaker 1: Fox Sports and KO Plus. Keep up today with all
21:30
Speaker 1: the latest Moto GP news on our socials at Fox
21:33
Speaker 1: Motorsport or via our website Fox sports dot com, dot
21:37
Speaker 1: Au Forward Slash Motorsport. But from Matt Clayton and myself
21:41
Speaker 1: Nita Vimulin, we're going to be back real soon to
21:43
Speaker 1: chat all things that happened and Mendalika